The Golden
Rule of Matthew 7:12 offers a fascinating study of how our society can corrupt
a simple verse on scripture. Perversions of the principle can appear as “Do to
others what you want”, “Do to others before they do to you”, “Do to others as
(if) they do to you”, and “Do to others so they’ll do to you”. That last one
has become translated into the modern vernacular through the statement “I’ll
scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.”
Motivation
for our actions was a major concern of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is filled
with references related to motivation. Near the end of his Gospel, Matthew
shares with us the well-known parable of the master distributing sums of money
for his servants to invest during his absence. (Matthew 25:14-30) We most often
focus upon the conclusion of the parable and the sad destiny of the fearful
servant. Perhaps the beginning of the parable also has something to teach us.
The master
distributes the funds to three servants, “to each according to his ability”
(RSV). He leaves the country and each of the servants proceeds to do what he
sees as best. Even though the end of the parable says there is a response from
the master to their work, both positive and negative, at the beginning there is
no promise of any response. Servants were expected to do their work. Period.
In Luke
17:7-10 Jesus shares an example carrying a similar theme. Jesus instructs his
disciples about the responsibilities of a servant before his master. He
emphasizes that masters are under no obligation to thank their servants for
work accomplished. The servant in conclusion says, “We are unworthy servants;
we have only done what was our duty.”
Operation
Inasmuch is an effort by which good people get out of their religious seats and
go out into a sinful world with one purpose: reveal the love of God in word and
deed. When asked why they are doing random acts of kindness without pay, the
response is a simple “for the love of God.” Those servants in the parable of
Jesus did not ask their master what was in it for them if they proved to be
productive in their investment efforts. The servants described in Matthew 17
did not feel they deserved or even expected a reward from their master. The
ministry known as Operation Inasmuch is an effort to live out the words of
Jesus in Matthew 5:16 and 25:40, let “men see your good deeds and glorify your
Father who is in heaven.”
“What’s in
it for me” is a philosophy that has lessened or prevented the positive influence of many
otherwise good deeds. When our primary motivation for serving others is to
bring something to ourselves, then we will look also at what we might lose.
That will draw us up short every time. We measure risks. We measure potential
personal loss. We even measure what someone else might get out of our actions
instead of it coming to us.
Today is a good
day to begin an evaluation of our motivations. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus
said to let our good deeds point people to the heavenly Father. The Apostle
Paul reminds us the end goal of our worship of Christ is to bring glory to the
heavenly Father. (Philippians 2:11) At some point we have to make, what is for
us selfish humans, the giant step of prioritizing the idea when God gets it all
and we get nothing, then we receive the most.
A servant
finds his reward in knowing he has been obedient and giving his best. A child
of God finds his reward in knowing that he has pointed all glory to God. That
all sounds simple, but it is easy to slip back and wonder, “What’s in this for
me”. What’s your motivation?
